Saboxone addiction

[blssdbyGod]

Hello, I'm hoping someone can answer a question for me. I have been addicted to vicodin for a couple of years and over the last 6 months have tried to wean by myself and quit unsuccessfully. I decided to get involved with a detox program covered by my insurance and started yesterday. The doctor gave me a prescription for Saboxone and I am supposed to take 4 mg, 3 times a day. Today has been my first full day of taking it. It has really been amazing in removing the physical symptoms I was experiencing BUT, I jumped on line today to see about how typical weaning goes for Saboxone and am now completely freaked out. I have read at least 50 peoples personal stories (or should I say nightmares) about trying to get off of Saboxone; almost every one of them saying that the withdrawals were way harder than the initial opiate that they started with. Every story I read however was about people who had been taking it as maintenance for over a year or more. So this is my question: Does anyone know how long it takes the body to become addicted to Saboxone? The reason that I am asking is this: I know that the physical dt's from opiate addiction typically take anywhere from 7 to 10 days to subside (or at least that's what I have read). If addiction to Saboxone is like opiates and takes the body several weeks to become dependent upon, then my plan is to use it for 10 days ONLY just to get me through the opiate detox. So essentially I will be detoxing from the vicodin while weaning myself from the Saboxone...does that make sense?
I really, really, really hope that someone out there knows the answer to my question because I just can't imagine ending up in an even worse place than where I started. :(

[Jinx_777]

you never mentioned how much vicoden you were taking, but you are trading what would be 5-7 days of relatively mild withdrawals to something that will give you HORRIBLE withdrawals for a lot longer period of time.
i would not take it for more than a week and i think that is an awful lot to take for a vicoden detox.  jmo,  
you need to understand that some doctors do not care about how much pain you will be in later, they want that $$$$$  by getting you hooked on sub's.o  
you are doing a great thing by researching this on your own and if at all possible i don't think i would take it at all.  
just pretend you have the flu for a few days and get the stuff for the Thomas Recipe (put that in the search bar on this site).
the stuff in that recipe will help you with the withdrawal symptoms from the vicoden

[blssdbyGod]

Goodmorning thatquietgirl,

Well I didn't end up talking to the doctor yesterday, but right after I responded to your post, I started surfing other sites and came across a lot of GREAT information from a doctor in Florida pertaining to anything and everything you would ever need to know about Suboxone. I am going to post the link just in case someone out there is surfing this site one night, in the same position that I am in, and is desperate for answers....I found them here:

http://guineveregetssober.com/suboxone-amazing-detox-tool-monster-maintenance-drug/

copy and paste it into the address box, press enter and dive in! In this article there is also a link to this doctors outpatient clinic (Palm Beach Outpatient Detox). If you click on that link, there are 2 more articles on the right hand side of his home page that are LOADED with information! I am very encouraged after reading what this man has written. And just so ya know, he does use suboxone for detox ONLY (never for maintenance) and says that it doesn't bind to the receptors in the brain (depending on each persons own metabolism) until around 3 to 6 weeks. This makes it AMAZING in so far as it can be used to help a patient in lessening the horrible  symptoms of withdrawal and then be done with it.

So, for what it's worth if anyone out there in cyberland is reading, I am now almost 72 hours FREE from hydrocodone and doing great! I am so excited that I have been able to dodge the worst of the dt's and am on my way to wholeness again! :)

[thatquietgirl]

I hope you're wrong, too.  If he won't give you answers, you could always see another doctor, explain your situation, and ask what their plan would be for you.

[blssdbyGod]

Thanks thatquietgir,
I suspect that the doctor who wrote me the prescription isn't worth a hill of beans let along his weight in salt. When I went in to see him I did ask him what the standard length of time was for using Suboxone and he said to me (rather emphatically) that I didn't need to worry about getting off because he used it for maintenance care and had patients who have been on it for years with no intention of ever getting off of it. Seeing as I knew virtually nothing about this med. added to the fact that I was in withdrawal and very overwhelmed by the "process" that I was in the middle of, I couldn't think of a single question. :(  I do plan on going back in today and bring it up to him, but I just don't feel real confident that I am going to get the answers that I will be looking for. Hopefully I'm wrong......

[thatquietgirl]

Suboxone is a drug usually given to someone with a dependency on opiates (which Vicodin is partly) to get them away from that addiction.  Sometimes it can be hard to get a person off Suboxone.  Discuss your concerns with the doctor and see if there is a long-term plan for getting off the Suboxone and how long that might take.  Any doctor worth his weight in salt would be willing to discuss the treatment plan with you.